


Armistice

by surveycorpsjean



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Getting Together, Hokage Uzumaki Naruto, M/M, Pining, Romance, Sexual Content, au where naruto is divorced & sasuke never got married, takes place 3 years after the boruto movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:07:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21640063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surveycorpsjean/pseuds/surveycorpsjean
Summary: Sasuke is still here.Or maybe; love hasn't passed them yet.
Relationships: Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama/Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 108
Kudos: 1740
Collections: THE naruto fic list, Team 7 🌀, why im sleep deprived 💖✨





	Armistice

**Author's Note:**

> i've been watching boruto and i kinda fell in love w naruto & sasuke all over again, oops

The view from the top feels a lot like the view from the bottom.

Sometimes, you wonder if it was worth the things you lost to get there. The weight you dropped to climb faster, the nails you chipped to reach over that cliffs edge and _live._

Things lost, things gained, you stand on the top of that mountain and realize now it’s _you._ Its your job to protect this place, because nobody else has survived the climb, and others say only the foolish will try.

That’s okay, Naruto thinks. Especially when your whole life is spent dreaming about climbing mountains.

He’s gotten ahold of the whole paperwork thing alright, but its only been through years of trial and error. Reading isn’t always easy for him, especially when the words blur over and swap letters and sixes become nines and kanji just looks like smudges on paper.

He still uses the highlighter method Iruka taught him in the academy. He used to be embarrassed about it, but if Shikamaru has any complaints about rainbow Konoha budgets then he hasn’t said anything yet.

“Wow,” a voice says. “Those bags are so deep I could crawl in them.”

Naruto heard the steps on the stairs, sensed the chakra outside his door, felt the uneasy shift of ANBU outside his window, but is still pleasantly surprised to see Iruka standing in his office.

“Sensei,” Naruto grins, setting a stack of papers aside. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“Isn’t it past yours?” Iruka teases back, shutting the door behind him. There are little crowfeet at the corners of his eyes, and his ponytail has grown past his shoulders, and he no longer has the steel muscle he used to carry as an active shinobi, but Naruto would still get on his knees and bow to him if he asked.

Naruto hums, “Now now sensei, Hokages don’t sleep.”

“Hmm. My experience under Kakashi says differently.”

“What do you have there?” Naruto asks, referring to the scroll in Iruka’s hand. Iruka approaches the desk and sets it in his outstretched palm.

“This was dropped on the mission desk. No name, no seals, but I thought you’d want to take a look at it.”

“You’re working the mission desk again?”

“Yes, it _is_ summer already.”

“So it is,” Naruto blinks, and he can hardly believe how fast the year has gone.

Iruka laughs, “It gets worse the older you get.”

Naruto studies the edge of the scroll. There are raven claws indented in the metal. He peels it open, and finds a message written in messy ink.

_It’s done._

Naruto smiles, and sets the scroll in his top drawer. He tries desperately to push down the irrational swell of _giddiness_ in his stomach. Iruka watches, but chooses not to pry.

“Do you have the kids this week?” Iruka asks instead.

Naruto leans his hip up against the window and crosses his arms.

“Nah, that’s next week. But Boruto will be gone with his team for half of it, so I’m trying to get all this crap done so I can take a few days off with ‘em.”

Iruka’s eyes soften, but snap back to the stack of paperwork on his desk.

“Well you aren’t getting very far like this! I told you to hire a damn secretary, you’re going to run yourself into the ground.”

“I actually did hire one,” Naruto laughs, rubbing the back of his head. “This isn’t bad. Things are…” Naruto blinks. The memories from a popped clone come rushing through his mind, and he files away the important stuff and disregards the rest. “Um,” Naruto blinks again, and the patient look on Iruka’s face tells him he knows.

“Things are…?”

“Oh, good,” Naruto smiles. “They’re – better, I think. You were right about the secretary, but Shikamaru wasn’t happy to have competition.” 

Iruka lifts an eyebrow, serious but concerned.

“Are _you_ okay?”

Naruto knows what he really means. He clears his throat. 

“Yeah. I only get the kids one week out of the month, but I still see them more now than I ever did.” Naruto offers a sheepish look. “Sorry, I know. You raised me better than this.”

Iruka frowns. His fingers trace the edge of Naruto’s desk, dipping into all the chips and wear it’s been through.

“No. You’re a good father, Naruto. You’ve given them a world where they can grow up and be _children_ instead of groomed into mini-soldiers and thrown into war. If you’re too busy keeping peace to make every family dinner, then that’s more than the rest of us had.”

The honesty of it chokes Naruto up a little. God, he really should go get some sleep. He plays it off as a laugh.

“I know they understand. But sometimes I wish I could do it all, yanno.”

As much as his relationship with Boruto has improved, Naruto still feels guilty that he can’t give them a _normal_ family. But hey, is anyone really normal around here?

“Quit moping and focus on what’s in front of you,” Iruka snaps. “They’re strong, don’t hold their hands too much or they’ll go soft.”

Harsh as ever... Naruto laughs from the familiarity of it, and nods.

“Yes sir!”

“Tell the kids I want to grab them for lunch this week,” Iruka says, already stepping back towards the door.

“Oh good! They’re always excited to see Ojiichan,” Naruto grins.

Iruka glares at him, but Naruto knows he’s flattered.

“Clean your desk!”

Naruto activates a chorus of clones.

“Yes sensei!”

Naruto can’t see the expression on the ANBU at the door, but he _can_ feel his bewildered look through the mask as Iruka slams the door shut.

_“Where does that guy get off ordering the Hokage around like that?”_

_“Well. That’s sorta’ my dad.”_

~

They lay flowers at the grave every year. Boruto used to act indifferent, never complaining out loud, but obviously impatient with his hands shoved in his little pockets, attention anywhere but here.

He’s become more respectful in his maturity. He almost reaches Naruto’s shoulder.

“Hi Grandpa, Hi Grandma!” Himawari bows. “These are azaleas! They mean good luck, love and balance, so sleep well! I’ll study hard this year and make you proud.”

Boruto doesn’t say anything as he sets flowers on the grave. There are white tulips sitting on the headstone, and Naruto aches a little to know that Hinata must’ve come by earlier. He’ll have to thank her.

Naruto says his piece, and Himawari takes his hand as they leave the memorial. She tugs on his fingers.

“Dad?”

“Hm?”

“If Grandpa Minato is _your_ father…” Himawari sways, “Then how come we have Grandpa Iruka?”

Boruto pointedly looks away, but Naruto isn’t disturbed by the question.

“You can have more than one father,” Naruto says. “Ero-Senin used to say, there’s strength in blood _and_ strength in water.”

He expects a follow up question, but Himawari just nods thoughtfully. She’s more clever than Naruto gives her credit for, and that fact scares him sometimes.

Boruto remains silent. They’re well past the years where Naruto could hold his hand, but he’s thankful that they can have moments even like these.

Twelve and fourteen, God help him.

“It wouldn’t be so bad,” Boruto eventually says, and it takes Naruto way too long to understand what he’s referring to. Naruto nearly chokes from it. He lets go of Himawari’s hand so the two can toss blunt shuriken back and forth as they walk.

_Stop worrying_ Kurama growls, a rumbly purr that vibrates through his skull. Naruto apologizes for waking him, and mentally steers himself straight.

Right. Back to work.

~

Naruto doesn’t realize he’s caught something until he sees it in his hand. He blinks at the small coin-purse and says to no one,

“A simple _hello_ would be nice.”

“But throwing things at you is so much more fun,” Sasuke says, deadpan.

Naruto grins at him, struggling against the urge to hop his desk and hug him tight.

Sasuke looks good. Not much different than the last time he saw him, but still just as annoyingly handsome.

“You’re back.”

“Obviously,” Sasuke says. He unclips his cloak and lays it over the back of a chair. “That’s a thank you gift from the mist village.”

Naruto lifts an eyebrow. He weighs it in his hand, and peeks open the pouch and – ah, okay. It’s full of eyeballs.

“I see,” Naruto says, dropping it on his desk with refrained disgust. “What for?”

“Putting an end to a new shinobi terrorist group dead set on starting a fifth war.”

Naruto looks back into the pouch of eyes, and sees a zig-zag pattern in the irises.

“Ah.” Naruto didn’t give any such orders to Sasuke, but they don’t call him the Hidden Kage for nothing. “How long are you back for this time?”

“Indefinitely.”

“Indefinitely?” Naruto repeats, frowning. He hasn’t seen Sasuke in three years – not the longest stretch, but definitely not the shortest. His visits are always brief, but Sasuke’s answer is never vague. Three days, a week – the longest was two months, back when Sasuke was training Boruto. “You don’t know?”

“Wherever you need me, I’ll go,” Sasuke says.

It strikes Naruto through the heart so _painfully,_ the words just spill out of him.

“I’ll always need you.”

Sasuke doesn’t react, but Naruto knows him so well, that even in his rigidness he can read the look on his face. Naruto tries not to cringe at how clingy that sounded.

It’s been hard to let him go. Again and again and again. Hinata once asked why he didn’t fight to make Sasuke stay, and the answer had been easy. Because Sasuke needed to find peace in himself, before he could ever begin to call any place home.

Sasuke has changed a lot, but so has Naruto. His 32nd birthday is this fall.

“I saw Shikamaru in the lobby,” Sasuke says out of nowhere. Naruto stares.

“Yeah, well, he sort of works here.”

Sasuke doesn’t rise to the bait. He drags his hand along the hilt of his sword and says,

“He told me to either stay here or stay gone, but to quit breaking your heart either way.”

Naruto chuffs a laugh, and turns back towards the window.

“Gee, if I had a penny for every time you broke my heart…”

Naruto isn’t expecting the sharp inhale from Sasuke. He turns his head back around, but Sasuke is looking at the portraits on the wall, feigning boredom.

“You’d be a rich man,” Sasuke murmurs.

“Don’t listen to him,” Naruto waves. “Your name has been cleared, come and go whenever you want.”

“Shikamaru believes differently.”

“Mah, he’s lost his marbles since he got Temari pregnant again.”

Sasuke almost looks surprised.

“They’re having another child?”

“Had. It’s an eleven year difference!” Naruto laughs. “I love babies, but Shikamaru freaked out.”

Sasuke snorts. Naruto looks to the bag of eyeballs and mourns all the paperwork that’s bound to follow.

“I know you hate this shit, but I need you to write me up a mission report for my eyes only. If any of this terrorist-clan BS is going to bite us in the ass then I want to know about it.”

“Let’s go out,” Sasuke says. Naruto’s eyes nearly pop out of his head.

_“What?”_

“Food?” Sasuke lifts a sharp brow. He then nods to the piles of work on Naruto’s desk. “Doesn’t look like you’re busy.”

Oh. _Oh,_ okay.

He really shouldn’t go. The kids are at Hinata’s this week and this is his chance to stay up late and finish these statements without any distractions, but Naruto has poor judgmental skills when it comes to Sasuke.

Sasuke’s eye un-hidden by hair is deep black and alluring as ever, and just looking at him feels like home. Like hurt and pain and _home._

It’s been so long, and the feeling never changes, goddammit.

“Yeah,” Naruto nods, and Sasuke is already out the door. He tosses the eyeball pouch to an ANBU on his way saying, “Take care of this, will ya’?”

Haha, if masks could kill. Well, these ones do – but it’s a good thing Naruto is the only neck alive they can’t snap.

~

Naruto isn’t in the mood for being recognized, so they buy cup ramen at the gas station and climb one of the trees outside of town. Sasuke is like a cat; the higher up he is, the less edgy he becomes. It’s likely some ninja-predator instinct, ‘cause Naruto feels the same way sometimes.

The branches of the tree are large enough for them to sit side by side. You could set an elephant on these things and the branch still wouldn’t go anywhere.

Konoha’s city lights stretch on forever. Years ago, Naruto couldn’t even imagine such a place.

“Boruto will be thrilled to hear that his favorite teacher has returned,” Naruto says. 

Sasuke only hums as a response, but his face softens into an almost smile.

“He’s been practicing a lot for you, you know.” Naruto jabs his shoulder with the blunt end of his chopsticks. “I’ve taught him some new tricks, so don’t underestimate him!”

Sasuke eyes him, and Naruto feels a short pinch as Sasuke pokes him back with his own chopsticks.

“Then he doesn’t need me.”

“It’s not the same. He really looks up to you, god knows why.”

He knows they’re different now, because Sasuke laughs instead of shoving him off the tree and lodging a kunai between his eyes.

“I’ll speak with him tomorrow. I won’t teach him anything more until he learns to bend shuriken the right way.”

“He’s well past bending shuriken. He’s a chunin now.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Sasuke is soft for Boruto. Naruto never thought he’d see the day Sasuke was good with _kids,_ but he’s…almost gentle. Almost.

He doesn’t pull punches and he speaks bluntly and he is insufferably strict, but in that alone is gentleness, because there isn’t a single soul on this planet that Sasuke would sit down and _teach_ like that.

Sasuke never had kids, never married, never picked a place to call home. Sometimes Naruto wishes he’d choose this one. _This_ home.

“I can’t wait for the day he lands you flat on your ass,” Naruto tells him.

“As if. Don’t you have a wife waiting for you?”

“You invited me here!” Naruto barks, and Sasuke’s eyes shine over with amusement. Naruto snorts, and leans back up against the tree trunk. “Besides, not anymore.”

Sasuke’s visible eye widens. The wind blows his bangs, and the rinnegan exposes itself for only a moment.

“What?”

Naruto stares at him dumbly, “We got divorced two years ago.” Naruto sits up, “Oh shit! Yeah you weren’t here, right.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrow in anger. His voice goes husky and dangerous.

“What did she do?”

Naruto is so thrown by the question, he nearly forgets to answer.

“Huh?? It – it wasn’t her at all. I was the one that was an ass, Hinata deserved better than me.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrow further.

“You cheated.”

“Wuh-I didn’t cheat!” Naruto punches his arm. “You really think I’d still be _alive_ right now if I’d _cheated?_ ”

“No. So what happened?”

“It was…personal,” Naruto says.

Sasuke is doing that thing again, where he’s trying not to show that he cares, but it’s obvious that he cares _immensely._ He turns back towards the city, but his head is tipped slightly, to show that he’s still interested.

“You’re Hokage,” Sasuke eventually says. “There’s no one more deserving than you.”

Alright, well. It seems like they’re having this conversation now.

Naruto runs his hand through his hair, the bandages scuffing against his scalp. He sighs, closing his eyes against the oncoming headache. He pops a few clones to focus, letting the memories wash over him before speaking.

“It wasn’t that.”

“Don’t tell me then,” Sasuke says. “I don’t care.”

The cicadas are especially loud tonight. He can sense the ANBU far off in the trees, likely too far to hear, but he folds his fingers into a sound deafening seal, and the flare of chakra makes Sasuke’s head whip back over like it’s tied to a string.

“I couldn’t keep lying to her,” Naruto stares at his fingers, guilt making his stomach fold in on itself. “It was wrong to keep playing pretend.”

He can see Sasuke’s mind trying to make sense of it already, as much as he pretends not to care.

“You didn’t love her anymore.”

“I loved her,” Naruto says. “But not like that. It took me a stupidly long time to figure it out, but once I did I – I thought it was too late anyways. But me goin’ around and pretending everything was okay was just making it worse.”

Sasuke’s gaze burns into him. Makes him resist the urge to squirm like he did when they were kids.

“Explain,” Sasuke says.

Right. Neither of them were ever smart on this stuff, huh? Heart thumping in his ears, Naruto manages to keep his face flat, and presses his voice steady, like discussing the weather.

“I don’t like women.”

The embarrassment is almost well worth the surprised look on Sasuke’s face. It’s gone in an instant, but Naruto definitely won’t be forgetting that anytime soon.

“Pfft,” Naruto muffles a laugh. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“What would I have to gain from lying to you?” Naruto rolls his eyes. He shows his left hand, ringless. “See?”

Sasuke goes silent. He stares and stares and stares so long that Naruto begins to eat his cold ramen again, figuring this was the end of the conversation.

He’s surprised when Sasuke speaks up again. Sasuke’s voice is so deep, like honey and gravel in a mixing bowl. 

“When did you know?”

“Eh, like nine years ago.”

 _“Nine years?”_ Sasuke blanches.

It does kinda’ sound ridiculous out loud.

“Meh…” Naruto shrugs, “You know I’m a little slow on that stuff. A family is what everyone expected from me, so I thought…”

“Wife, kids, Hokage.”

“Yup, in that order.”

“You were married for twelve years.”

“Yeah. Uhh, Hinata never initiated sex, so I was able to get away with it. For a long time I thought I was just…broke, yanno? Ugh, it’s stupid…but by the time I told Hinata, she still wanted to make it work but, I just couldn’t do that to her. It’s degrading on her behalf.”

Sasuke glares at him, “And you’re beating yourself up over it? That doesn’t make you an asshole, it means this stupid village roped you into something you weren’t ready for.”

“Wow, that was almost a compliment.”

“I’m pissed off,” Sasuke huffs. “Does the village know?”

“That I’m divorced or that I’m gay?”

“Both.”

“Yes and probably. It’s not like I went on the morning news, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist.”

Sasuke frowns at him. Naruto didn’t expect him to react at all — really, hardly expected to have this conversation to begin with. Sasuke doesn’t look disgusted, so that’s a relief. (Not that he needs Sasuke’s validation, he doesn’t).

Sasuke falls into deep thought. The breeze brushes his cloak collar against his jaw, and Naruto distantly wonders what the skin would feel like against his lips.

Naruto can’t say it, as much as he wants to. As beautiful as Sasuke looks. As hard as his heart beats, he can’t do it.

“I don’t regret it,” Naruto says, looking up to the stars. You can’t see them like you used to. “Hima and Boruto are the best that’s happened to me.”

Sasuke’s anger simmers into something else. He looks away, a mask sliding coolly into place, but not enough to be unreadable to Naruto.

“How upset was Boruto?”

“Less angry than I expected. They took it well. I think Hinata’s dating again.”

Sasuke says nothing else. Naruto tips his head back and closes his eyes, some of the fatigue settling in. He can’t remember the last time they spent this much time together in one place without fighting some evil god wannabe. It’s upsetting how much Sasuke’s presence relaxes him. How much he knows better, but still wishes this was permanent.

“Love has passed me,” Naruto says, almost happily, even with the familiar shattering of his heart.  
  


~

Sasuke hasn’t left yet.

That’s the surprise of the century.

He’s actually about to set a new record. They’re coming up on the second month, and Sasuke floats in and around Konoha like a ghost. Naruto keeps busy, drowned in paperwork and politics – but Sasuke comes by the office sometimes, conveniently during the discussions of S-rank missions.

There are still murders, still gangs, still threats to Konoha. Princes to escort, treaties to negotiate. Naruto continues to trust Sasuke’s opinion more than anyone in the universe, and people will call him crazy for it, but Naruto doesn’t give a damn.

“Uhh, Hokage-sama, does he have clearance to be here?” A young jounin asks, jabbing a thumb in Sasuke’s direction. Naruto can’t believe they’re approaching a world where not every soul in Konoha knows the name Sasuke Uchiha.

“He has clearance because I say so,” Naruto frowns, and Sasuke shifts his weight against the window behind him, arms crossed.

  
~

Boruto comes to him with the new techniques Sasuke has taught him. Naruto doesn’t take offense to his excitement, because he knows how important a good sensei can be. And also, it’s _Sasuke._ To see his skills being passed on to his own son makes him none short of ecstatic.

He sent a clone to watch once. Sasuke popped it almost instantly.

“I just wanted to watch,” Naruto pouts the next day, cheek squished on his desk. “I’m his dad, I’m supposed to monitor his improvement.”

“You’ll see improvement when he continues to return from missions alive,” Sasuke says coldly, but there’s something about it that comforts Naruto anyways.

~

“I heard the Hokage’s guard dog is back,” Kiba says, slumped up against the bar.

“Excuse me, the _what?”_

“Sa-su-ke,” Lee sings, drunk already from one round of shots.

“Dude, you can’t keep getting trashed like this,” Choji sighs. “You’ve got a kid at home.”

“Fuck it,” Tenten says, and does another shot. “He’s fourteen, he can cook his own dinner.”

Naruto interrupts, “I’m sorry, what did you call Sasuke?”

“Your little bodyguard. He’s been following you around like a puppy.”

Naruto has seen Sasuke like, once this week, and it was to discuss a jounin mission. Kiba has lost his marbles.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed that.”

“Sure, whatever, I’m just surprised he hasn’t dipped yet.” 

“Do you think he’s fixing to stay?” Sakura asks. Even married and with her own child, Naruto knows she’ll always carry a torch for Sasuke, as fucked up as that sounds. Naruto can’t really call the kettle black.

“Don’t get your fuckin’ hopes up,” Shikamaru mumbles, and Naruto stops the bartender from refilling Lees drink again.

Naruto has only been able to rejoin bar-nights in recent years. He’s not drunk as he walks home, but he’s more relaxed than he’s been all week.

Kiba’s words stir around in his head. Naruto isn’t sure what Sasuke gets up to in his free time. Frankly, he doesn’t think to ask. But he walks a moment longer, and then stops at a crosswalk.

Naruto closes his eyes and slips into sage mode. He can recognize Sasuke’s chakra anywhere, like a dog that knows the smell of home.

“Come here Sasuke,” Naruto says. A body drops behind him.

Naruto doesn’t look back; he just pockets his hands and continues down the street. Footsteps walk behind him.

“Bored already?” Naruto starts. “I can send you somewhere, if you’d like.”

“But you don’t want me to go,” Sasuke says.

“No,” Naruto shrugs. “But it’s not about what I want. Why are you following me?”

“I’m not,” Sasuke huffs defensively. Naruto only waits a moment for an explanation. “Your ANBU are incompetent.”

Naruto smiles, and turns towards an apartment complex.

“That’s not true. I trained them myself.”

“Then that explains why they’re so inept. They can’t sense my movement whatsoever. I could have killed them all and taken your head and not a soul would’ve known until they found the body tomorrow.”

“Hey, my head’s not that easy to take!” 

“You’re right. It’s pretty heavy.”

Naruto turns around to whack him in the arm, but Sasuke grabs his fist easily. Naruto can see in his eyes that he’s laughing at him, and damn is he gorgeous. Naruto can almost smell the scent of him, musky and clean like military-grade soap and pine trees. It’s almost too much.

“Whatever,” Naruto sighs, dropping his hand. “You want tea?”

“You’re inviting me in?”

“Uh, yeah? That’s what friends do. Not that you’d know, sneaking around the place like a weirdo.”

“I haven’t been sneaking,” Sasuke snaps, but follows Naruto up to his apartment. It’s not as big as his old home, but it has three bedrooms and a decent sized living room. Definitely better than the hole in the wall he slept in as a kid, but not as luxurious as to what he could afford if he wanted to. It feels weird spending money on stuff like that.

“You let her have the house.”

“Well duh.”

Sasuke walks inside like he owns the place. Naruto flips on the lights and starts on tea.

“Why not move into the Hokage residence?” Sasuke asks.

Naruto wrinkles his nose.

“It’s way too big. I only come here to sleep anyways — I don’t need all that room, yanno.”

“Hn.” Sasuke studies the scrolls hung on his wall. The moon casts shadows along his jaw, and Naruto swallows against the heat in his mouth. He removes the kettle as it begins to scream and pulls cups out of the pantry.

“So um….do you have an apartment around here?”

“Nn.”

“I’ve never seen it. Boruto says he’s been there, and I didn’t believe ‘em because I just thought you’d been living in a tree somewhere, but Boruto said you fed him and Hima a couple times.”

“Boruto needs to learn the shinobi rule about snitching,” Sasuke mumbles. The admission makes Naruto smile.

“Don’t spoil them too much. They’ll keep coming back,” Naruto teases.

Sasuke eyes him.

“Like someone else I know.”

“Now that’s just rude.”

Naruto preps the herbs the same way Iruka used to do it for him. He bites his lip, and Sasuke sighs.

“Naruto.”

“Hm?”

“Just say it,” Sasuke demands, and Naruto nearly spills boiling water on his hand. He yips and catches the pot in time.

“Huh?”

“Whatever it is you want to say, spit it out already,” Sasuke frowns. “Your nervousness is annoying me.”

Naruto has a full-fledged panic of _oh god no, he knows, he knows he knows –_ but he thinks back to that day in his office, and forces himself to calm down. Okay, okay, he can save this.

“Ah. Do you mean…”

“Send me away and I’ll go,” Sasuke says. “Ask me to stay, and I’ll stay. My work is done, I’ll keep my end of the promise.”

The promise.

_I’ll serve the Hokage only if it’s you._

“I won’t hold that against you…” Naruto approaches with the tea. Sasuke takes it from him, saying,

“I know. This isn’t about that.”

“Then stay,” Naruto says, and hopes it doesn’t sound as desperate as it is. “Stay and work with me. Train ANBU. Oversee the S-class missions. Help build up the next generation so they never have to do what we did.”

“I’m a missing-nin,” Sasuke says.

“No, you’re not,” Naruto replies, voice just as steady.

Sasuke drinks from the cup and sits on the coffee table, using the motion to hide a smile.

“You really shouldn’t trust me.”

“Only with my life, asshole.”

“Funny, this,” Sasuke nods and he’s right. Naruto never thought they’d be here. He’s older than his parents ever were. Sasuke is _here_ in the flesh, and Naruto’s chest aches from it.

Sasuke’s sleeve hangs limp at his side. Naruto clenches his own bandaged fist at the sight.

“Just…” Naruto starts, drawing his attention. “If you’re going to leave, don’t lie to me about it. Please.”

“Don’t beg,” Sasuke snaps, almost flustered. “Its unbecoming of the Hokage.”

Naruto is tired. His arm aches. The stress is eating behind his eyes.

“Then stay,” Naruto whispers. Sasuke reclines back against the coffee table, and stays.

~

When you love for so long, it becomes a part of you.

Sasuke comes and goes like the wind. Hey, it makes sense all things considered; Naruto has an affinity for wind.

Sasuke comes to his office when he chooses, and leaves when he’s had his fit. Sometimes its hours, minutes, some weeks its not at all, but he’s always there when Naruto needs him, and ain’t that the truth.

It’d be weird otherwise. Naruto could never control a damn thing he did, why would he start now?

Sasuke has started slipping through his living room window on random nights. He only uses the doorbell when the kids are home, as if he’s pretending to set a good example. Naruto tries to complain, but he knows he can’t bitch when he does the same thing to Sasuke.

“Hey, this place isn’t bad,” Naruto says, one foot through the window.

Sasuke’s eyes squint. He looks like a priss in his armchair, a book at his nose and his t-shirt sleeves rolled up to his shoulders.

“You’re not a clone.” 

“Nope!”

“Hn. Aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting with the kages?”

“Yeah, but we broke for lunch and I’ve got zip at my place.” Naruto noses into his fridge. “That’s the part that sucks about being a bachelor.”

“Go find yourself a new house-husband then,” Sasuke grumbles.

“Why, I’ve already got one?” Naruto teases, and then regrets the words as soon as they’re out of his mouth, holy shit, has he learned nothing?

But to his downright surprise, Sasuke sighs and sets down his book, hip-checking him out of the way and pulling open the fridge.

“Move. I might have the sauce for spicy noodles.”

“Man, even with one arm you’re still a better cook,” Naruto tells him later, and Sasuke slings a chopstick at him like a kunai, and Naruto catches it between his forefingers, and everything about this kinda’ makes him feel like a kid again. Like there’s a new fire in his soul. It shouldn’t surprise him; being around Sasuke has always made him feel this way, for better or for worse. 

Naruto flings the chopstick back, and Sasuke catches it without looking. For only that moment, Sasuke smiles at him through his eyes.

Kurama purrs, and Naruto represses a shiver.

~

If it was only _this_ for eternity, it would never be enough, and that scares him.

Naruto will always want more. And he’ll always chew up that feeling and spit it back out.

He should be grateful for what he has.

He should _let this go._

But Naruto has become wise enough to know the truth. If the feeling has lasted this long, then it’s not going anywhere.

~

Sasuke has decided to grace him with his presence today.

He’s taken to the chair shoved in the corner of the Hokage office, and it’s a blessing in disguise because he’s really good at scaring away people with unimportant problems.

“Take it to Shikamaru,” Sasuke says without looking up from his book.

The Jounin at the door hasn’t even spoken yet. She blinks, and Naruto waves it off.

“It’s fine, I know what you’re here for.”

“It was an A-class. Take it to Shikamaru,” Sasuke repeats, but there’s a growl in the deadpan of his voice, and the Jounin bows before dipping out the door.

Naruto frowns at Sasuke, “That was about the escort to Suna.”

“The scroll said they arrived safely. Now Iruka will do the paperwork and I’ve saved you half an hour, you’re welcome.”

Naruto pouts, sliding down in his chair.

“Uchihas and their stupid magical eyes. Didn’t I send you on a mission this morning?”

“Already done,” Sasuke tells him. “If you make me your errand boy one more time I’ll kick your ass.”

Naruto rolls his eyes and fiddles with his pen.

“I can’t exactly send any joe schmo into Orochimaru’s lair.”

“It’s less of a lair and more of a nursery,” Sasuke says, and Naruto can’t help his own laugh. The weight on his shoulders isn’t so heavy, and he takes a deep breath, silently relieved that he can send Sasuke on sensitive missions and trust him to make decisions for him. As ironic as it sounds, it’s like having another arm.

It’s not like he can’t trust any of his other shinobi friends. This is just – different.

“In your years of traveling…” Naruto starts, lowering the screen of his laptop. “Did you ever pass through Suna?”

He’s never asked Sasuke where he went. Naruto wasn’t sure if Sasuke would ever tell him.

Sasuke looks him over, dressed in black with his sword still dutifully by his side, and Naruto feels momentarily exposed by the heat of his eyes. Naruto wants to slide into his lap, wants to run his fingers through his bangs so badly, he could cry.

Sasuke always looks at him different. It’s charged, filled with his full attention, and Naruto wishes it meant more than it did. They’re not in a genjustu, but it feels like his heart is beating out of his chest.

“Finish those reports,” Sasuke says, turning back to his book. “And I’ll tell you.”

~

Naruto is long asleep when Sasuke climbs in off his balcony.

Naruto took off work early to spar with Hima and Boruto before they were sent back to their mom’s place, and he’s feeling the good kind of sore, from a heavy workout. Naruto hasn’t slept much this week due to a multitude of political matters, but he wanted to work with Hima before her Chunin exam. Just because she favors becoming a medic-nin, that doesn’t mean her combat can get sloppy.

She moves like Sasuke now, and Naruto doesn’t know what to think of that.

Sasuke glides across the livingroom soundlessly. Naruto fell asleep where he laid, which is now spread along the wood floor. He’s got his head pillowed on his arm, and he’s snoring steadily as Sasuke comes to crouch next to him.

Sasuke hesitates for a long time. There’s a leathery sound of Sasuke pulling off his glove with his teeth, and Naruto doesn’t stir as Sasuke slowly threads his fingers into the short blonde spikes of his hair.

All you can hear are crickets and cicadas, the apartment otherwise still and silent.

His touch is gentle. Sasuke pets up to his forehead, his pinky barely brushing his brow, his palm pressing warm to his skin. Sasuke slowly leans forward, and red eyes snap open.

“Do you want to die?”

Sasuke snatches his hand back as if burned.

Kurama gives him a very _unimpressed_ look.

“Kyuubi?” Sasuke asks, looking stunned.

“Why are you here?” Kurama snaps. He sits up, cracking Naruto’s back for him and twisting to glare at Sasuke as his hand hovers over his sword.

“Where is Naruto?”

“Sleeping. What do you want?”

“There were… threats – dealt with but – what do you mean he’s _sleeping?”_ Sasuke glares at him. Kurama rolls his eyes and crosses his arms.

“Surely you know what sleeping is. You’re not that stupid, Uchiha.”

Sasuke is so puffed up, Kurama thinks he might just turn into a cat and hiss. Kurama sighs, and waves his hand for Sasuke to calm down.

“Technically this body does not require sleep unless it is heavily injured. Unfortunately, I have no effect on Naruto’s psyche. If he goes without sleep, his mental state tires like any other, so I watch over his body at night while he rests.”

Sasuke doesn’t look convinced.

“I’ve never heard of this.”

“Well you weren’t around, were ya’?” Kurama snaps back, and woah, did Uchiha just _flinch?_ Kurama smiles toothily, “Relax. I’ve only been able to control his body since the seal was released. Only a good decade and a half.” 

The tenseness in Sasuke’s shoulders seems to lessen as he realizes that Naruto is not in danger.

“Well… isn’t that sweet of you, Kyuubi.”

“Get out before I hang you by that cape of yours,” Kurama snarls.

Sasuke looks at him a little too cheekily for Kurama’s liking.

“Naruto would never allow it.”

Kurama growls, and Sasuke flickers back into the windowsill.

“Don’t let him fall asleep on the floor anymore,” Sasuke lectures.

“Fuck off,” Kurama tells him, and puts Naruto to bed once he’s slammed the window shut tight.

~

“Sorry,” Naruto smiles, catching three shuriken in one hand. “Not a clone.”

Sasuke narrows his eyes. Hima turns around, delighted.

“Dad!”

“You’re off today?” Boruto asks, almost unbelieving.

“My meeting got out early, so. Let’s just say I’m playing a dangerous game of hide and seek with Uncle Shikamaru.”

Sasuke coughs to hide a laugh. Naruto studies his battle worn kids vs the markless Sasuke perched on a tree stump.

Himawari waves, “Come join us! Sasuke-sensei says I’m getting good with my kunai. I almost scratched him!”

“How about we even the odds a bit?” Naruto rolls up his sleeves. “You and me versus Boruto and Sasuke.”

Sasuke raises his eyebrows, but doesn’t say anything.

“Now this I’ve been waiting for,” Boruto grins. “You won’t outrun my lightning!”

“Don’t use metal weapons and stay away from the trees,” Naruto tells Himawari.

“Got it!”

“Dad, that’s cheating!”

“Loser buys ramen!”

“Oh you’re on.”

Naruto stays back to observe the role Sasuke is choosing to take – and it looks like he’s doing the same. They fall into a wordless agreement of support, and keep neither Boruto nor Himawari from gaining the upper hand.

Sasuke is too fast for Himawari, but Naruto keeps Sasuke and Boruto away so Himawari can land a few hits.

Boruto is growing increasingly more talented with a sword. Sasuke reprimands him mid-battle, and he puffs up in frustration long enough for Naruto to sweep out his feet – or at least try. But Sasuke flips their positions with his rinnegan, and Naruto’s foot hits Sasuke’s palm. Cheater.

“You need to be quicker with your lightning signs,” Sasuke tells Boruto.

“It’s hard while holding a sword!”

“Sasuke-sensei does it with only one hand,” Himawari teases. Boruto sticks out his tongue, and Naruto wants to tell them how many years it took Sasuke to reach the place he is now.

“No fair,” Boruto sighs later, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “You guys aren’t even going all out.”

“If we went ‘all out’ there wouldn’t be a Konoha anymore,” Sasuke tells him.

“What were you expecting to happen?” Naruto laughs.

Himawari stands back up, “I wanted to see Kurama and Susanno!”

“We don’t use those kind of powers just for sparring,” Naruto scolds.

“Ah come on old man,” Boruto slumps down in the grass, sheathing his katana. “Don’t you guys want to test your power? Just once to see who’d win?”

Naruto gives Sasuke a side eye. Sasuke stares back.

“Well…we kind of did once.”

“You did?!”

“Who won?”

“It was a draw,” Naruto says.

“Aww, that’s lame.” Boruto pouts. “How do you know it was _really_ a draw?”

Sasuke grabs his sleeve and yanks it up on his shoulder, revealing the knotted stub.

“This is how.” 

Himawari and Boruto’s eyes go wide as saucers.

“Holy shit, are you serious?” Boruto sputters, “That’s how you lost your arms?” 

“Language.”

“It’s a long story,” Sasuke says tonelessly.

“I have time,” Himawari pipes. She looks at her imaginary watch, “You two still have to buy us ramen, sensei.”

Sasuke snorts. Boruto huffs, “We didn’t lose!”

“How about this,” Naruto interjects before the bickering starts. “We’ll go get dinner if you two clean your rooms when we get back.”

“Only if you tell us the full story about your arms,” Boruto barters.

“That’s now how this works,” Sasuke says, and he sounds so much like a parent in that moment that Naruto’s step faulters as they move off the training field.

“Come on, please? I always thought it got eaten by a shark.”

“You thought my arm was eaten by a _shark?”_

“I told him it was dumb,” Himawari defends. “I thought it was demon lord.”

“Dad lied to us the whole time, he said he lost his in the war.”

Sasuke glances back at him, and Naruto jogs to rejoin them.

“Technically, that is not a lie,” Sasuke says. Boruto and Himawari both look to them with their full attention, so Naruto sighs in defeat.

“Fine. But you shouldn’t go telling your friends.”

His kids nod like the little liars they are. Naruto doesn’t mind that much. Sasuke doesn’t realize he’s smiling, and Naruto isn’t going to be the one to tell him.

Sasuke falls back to walk at his side as the kids run on. They walk so closely, that if Sasuke still had his left arm, their fingers would be touching. Naruto feels his face go hot, and takes a step away to play it safe.

He stopped bugging Sasuke about the arm years ago. He rejects a prosthesis as a reminder, and something about that makes Naruto’s soul hurt.

Naruto can feel Sasuke’s gaze like a second skin. He comes up with some bullshit small-talk to fill the silence, nonsense that Sasuke doesn’t respond to, but Naruto can still feel the heat of his eyes, and he wonders why he suddenly can’t breathe.

~

Sasuke is acting strange today. Err, _stranger_ than usual.

Naruto is always excited to see Gaara. His adopted kid is just as prickly and serious as Gaara used to be – but their Kazekage isn’t so cold anymore, and he sits in Naruto’s office and talks with him for hours.

The shinobi guards from Suna stare at Sasuke like he’s a stray dog that might bite. Sasuke doesn’t pay any mind to them, because he’s too busy trying to light Gaara on fire with his eyes alone. Seriously, if looks could _kill._

“I’m eager to see this year’s candidates from Konoha,” Gaara tells him, elbow on the desk and one leg crossed over the other, the most casual you’ll ever see him. “Suna’s genin are ruthless this year.”

“So I’ve heard! Boruto told me all about it when he visited,” Naruto laughs. “I’m excited to use the new stadium. Damn thing took too many years to build again.”

“I enjoyed hosting last year,” Gaara says. “You looked fitting in Suna attire.”

Sasuke breathes out of his nose. From anyone else it’s nothing – but from Sasuke, it’s like letting out the world’s most dramatic sigh and rolling your eyes so hard they fall out of your head.

Naruto ignores him, rubbing a finger under his nose sheepishly.

“Gee, thanks. It didn’t last too long, I kept losing layers in your ridiculous heat.”

“I know,” Gaara half-smiles. “That is why you kept getting sunburnt.”

“We’re holding the exams here from now on,” Naruto pouts, and Gaara lets out an airy sound that he’s come to know as a laugh.

“It was a surprise, you always fared well in the sun.”

“And you always look like a porcelain doll no matter what! It’s really not fair.”

“Maybe if you kept your clothes on –“

Sasuke stands up and leaves the room. Gaara tracks his movement like a predator to prey.

“Sorry,” Naruto says, watching the door slam closed. “He’s antsy because we’re waiting on a scroll to de-code right now.”

“Really? Is there anything Suna can help with?”

“Well – it might be good to let you know in case these guys cross into your lands. Have you got a minute?”

“For you, always.”

Another door thumps out in the hall. Naruto’s eye twitches, and mentally files away a reminder to bitch at Sasuke about slamming his damn doors.

~

Thanks to a holiday, Naruto is able to have a full two-day weekend. He spends the first day with his kids, and the second Naruto uses to catch up on the disgusting heap of laundry that he’s been shoving under his bed for weeks. Do as I say kids, not as I do.

Even on an off day, Sasuke is sitting in his living room, helping him decide on the next chunin captains. Naruto runs circles between the laundry room, his bedroom, and the living area, as Sasuke simply sits among a coffee table filled with photos and drinks black coffee.

“So are you gonna’ tell me what that fit was all about last week?” Naruto asks, raising his voice from the hallway.

“You have to be specific, dobe.”

Naruto rolls his eyes where Sasuke can’t see.

“With Gaara. If the Kazekage were anyone else, he’d consider you rude as hell.”

“Everyone considers me rude as hell anyways, I don’t give a shit.”

“Yeah, but Gaara’s cool now. You have no reason to act like a dick.”

Sasuke doesn’t respond. Naruto pours detergent in the washing machine and sets the timer, wiping his hands on a towel as he steps back in the room. Sasuke is staring at the photos, but there’s a glazed look in his eyes.

The stiffness in his shoulders sets Naruto on edge. He clears his throat and pours his own coffee. Sasuke speaks up just as Naruto does.

“Did you make a decision?”

“Was it him?”

Naruto blinks, setting his coffee back down on the bar.

“What?”

Sasuke’s eyes lift from the table. It’s a slow crawl that makes every hair stand on end as Sasuke settles his gaze on him.

“Was it _him?_ ” Sasuke repeats.

Naruto stares dumbly, “What the hell are you on about?”

“You said,” Sasuke starts, “-nine years ago you realized you didn’t like women. Was it him?”

Naruto is so thrown by the question, he can’t even come up with a response. Mouth open, he stares like a fish as Sasuke rises to his feet. Naruto’s brain struggles to connect the dots.

“A-Are you talking about _Gaara?”_

Sasuke appears in front of him in an instant, and Naruto inhales as his back hits the wall. Sasuke is suddenly everywhere, his chakra and the musky scent of him filling all of Naruto’s senses.

“No?” Sasuke reads him, leaning closer, and his eyes are a swirl of restrained fury. “It had to be someone. A traveler from Kumo? A new Jounin?”

Naruto’s eyes widen with realization.

_Who made you gay?_

An old kind of flame lights inside Naruto, the angry kind, that ignites around his chest and burns him. Naruto slams his hands against Sasuke’s chest and pushes him backwards, barking,

“Are you stupid?! It wasn’t – it wasn’t anyone! It’s just who I am, you asshole!”

Sasuke remains still. He’s looking off into the hallway like there’s someone there. Naruto feels his face running hot, so he presses a hand to his forehead and sighs, trying to calm himself.

“Why does it matter?”

A moment passes, and Sasuke speaks again; his voice is softer this time, but gritty and forced.

“You’re the only one who didn’t give up on me. Why?”

Too many emotions swirl around at once. Naruto knows where this is going, knows where the train is headed, and he’s not ready to see it all blow up in his face so soon. Things were going _so well._

Naruto can’t keep the snap out of his voice.

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.”

“I _don’t,_ ” Sasuke hisses, stepping forward again. “I don’t know. That’s why you have to _tell me._ ”

“I already did! When my fuckin’-“ Naruto lifts a bandaged hand, “- _arm_ was bleeding out all over the ground. Are you already going senile?”

“Even when the world wanted me dead, you didn’t,” Sasuke says. “Even _Sakura –_ of all people –came to kill me. Any sane person would have, so what’s wrong with _you?”_

Naruto fixes his gaze on the floor. He blinks the sting away and thinks of that day in the snow. The answer is easy and obvious. It could ruin them, but maybe they’re already ruined. They’ve been broken for a long time.

“Because I loved you.”

Sasuke doesn’t react. He blinks, like that was exactly what he was expecting Naruto to say. 

“Right,” Sasuke deadpans. “Because I’m _family_.” He spits the word like poison in his mouth.

Naruto can’t contain his temper anymore. It explodes out of him, a volcano of frustration, all the cracked pieces of his heart just grinding into dust under Sasuke’s shoe.

“You _idiot!”_ Naruto shouts, stepping forward and grabbing Sasuke by the collar. “You never got it, did you?! I was – _fuck,_ I was _in_ love with you!!! Am! Is! Whatever! I _love you!_ But that’s my problem and not yours so can you just _drop_ all this?”

Sasuke grabs him by the wrist. Naruto expects him to rip his hand off and deck him in the nose, but neither of those things happen. Sasuke stares at him with two different eyes – eyes that have loved and lost and stolen and cried, and Naruto thunks his head back against the wall with a sigh.

His heart is beating like he’s run a marathon; the emotional exhaustion settles in.

“God dammit, Sasuke.”

“How did you know?” Sasuke asks. Naruto opens his eyes to glare at him.

“If you’re just going to make fun of me then you can leave.”

Sasuke squeezes his wrist so tight, it begins to hurt.

“Answer my question.”

“Fuck – ow! I don’t know! I guess I always did, following you around like some dumb dog. I would’ve gone to the ends of the earth for you, yanno. I still would.” Sasuke stares expectantly, and Naruto sighs. “I didn’t really know what it was until I got older, okay? It’s not like you ruined my marriage or anything, so don’t look at me like that. I guess – I realized I liked guys like Gaara and stuff, but...” Naruto turns his head away, embarrassed, “You were it for me. So let go, asshole.”

Sasuke does not do that.

Naruto waits for the impending train crash, but it still doesn’t come, and it’s torture. Sasuke’s grip softens, and eventually drops. Naruto’s arm falls back to his side, but Sasuke’s hand comes towards his face, and Naruto flinches, mentally prepared to get decked.

Sasuke’s palm cups his cheek. Naruto peeks a look and gasps, because Sasuke’s eyes are _open._ There are so many emotions he’s never seen before – maybe flashes, glimpses, back when they were children – but there’s no mask now, and Naruto feels like he’s falling.

His palm is warm, and Naruto can feel the callouses where his fingers wrap around his sword. Naruto swallows hard.

“If you’re going to strangle me, just do it,” Naruto croaks.

“I’m in love with you too,” Sasuke tells him. It’s the very last thing Naruto would’ve ever expected out of his mouth, and the suddenness of it makes him immediately cry.

Naruto tries to push him away, tries to cover his face and feign anger.

“That’s not funny.”

Sasuke doesn’t move. He keeps Naruto’s hands away from his face, and slips this thumb down to catch the tears sliding off his chin.

“I tried to deny it for a very long time,” Sasuke tells him. “But unfortunately, you are it for me too.”

After all this time...

Naruto reels back, and cracks his forehead against Sasuke’s. Just as Sasuke opens his mouth to yip in pain, Naruto kisses his open mouth and laughs wetly.

Sasuke huffs out of his nose and presses Naruto up against the wall, and it’s a shitty first kiss, as far as kisses go. It’s salty from his tears and Sasuke is obviously ticked about the new bruise he’s about the sport and Naruto can’t stop laughing, but it sends sparks down his spine like he’s never felt before. Never _ever –_ and it’s like taking in a deep breath for the first time in twenty years.

The knot in his chest unravels so easily. Sasuke tips his head and the kiss smooths out and Naruto holds onto his narrow waist so he won’t float away. Their lips part softly.

“That fucking hurt,” Sasuke tells him, pulling back to glare.

“That’s what you get for not telling me, teme.”

“You didn’t tell me either! You – you got _married,”_ Sasuke cries, and for once, Naruto sees the crack in his composure. A small glimpse of how much Sasuke might’ve been hurting, too.

“I know,” Naruto pulls Sasuke so that their new forehead bruises bump, and they both flinch a little bit, but the pain is a good reminder that this is still real. “We’re a bad idea.”

“A terrible one,” Sasuke agrees. “I want you naked.”

“Oh god, yeah.”

~

Naruto makes it his mission to be as much of an annoyance as possible, kissing Sasuke over and over whenever he tries to pull back, step towards the bedroom, reach for his shirt or even breathe.

Naruto dives for the hot skin on his neck, his mouth blazing a trail, and Sasuke hisses, “You are such a _dick,_ ” and slings Naruto over his good shoulder when he’s had enough.

“Hey! I’m the Hokage, you can’t do that!”

“Then break my hold, Hokage-sama.”

Naruto goes so red, his skin steams. He crosses his arms and lets Sasuke set him down in the bedroom, only getting revenge once he’s sat Sasuke on the edge of the bed and crawled into his lap.

Sasuke makes noises he didn’t think were possible. They’re not loud or particularly lewd, but the light hitches in his breath and the airy, quiet groans when Naruto pets behind his ears and kisses his mouth red – it’s _obscene._

A single hand slides down Naruto’s back and rests at his ass. Sasuke is balancing fine, but Naruto adjusts his weight so Sasuke doesn’t have to use his core to keep them upright. Sasuke squeezes his butt, and Naruto groans a little too loud, his nose slipping against Sasuke’s as he breaks their sloppy makeout sesh.

“God,” Sasuke curses, and it’s so deep that Naruto’s stomach nearly falls out.

Naruto bites his lip, running his thumb over Sasuke’s mouth, and smiles as he says, “You’re still so hot. I never wanted to admit that the girls were right about that.”

Sasuke’s eyes widen, but the rest of his reaction is hidden in Naruto’s neck, and Sasuke decides to suck beneath his ear and turn Naruto on past any point of return.

“Ah _fuck._ ”

“I thought… you were…” Sasuke starts, and then abandons. Naruto gently tugs Sasuke’s head back by his hair and licks across the front of his teeth, sliding his tongue further in his mouth when Sasuke gasps.

Naruto purrs into his mouth, “Yeah?” 

“You’re gross,” Sasuke tells him, and grinds Naruto crotch up against his own and _shit shit shit_ he’s hard. Sasuke’s middle finger rubs down his crack through his pants, and Naruto’s eyes roll back.

“Mmm, okay.”

Naruto can feel the strength in Sasuke’s stomach as he flexes to keep them from falling backwards. Naruto slides his left hand under Sasuke’s shirt, and it’s firm; soft only in places that aren’t marred by scars. Sasuke suddenly tenses, and Naruto pulls his hand away.

“Oops, sorry.”

“No it’s – it’s fine.” Sasuke swallows. “Just getting used to this.” His hand slips up the back of Naruto’s shirt, and he involuntarily shivers.

“Ah. I get it.”

“Have you ever been with a man?” Sasuke asks him, and Naruto sneakily pops the first button on his shirt.

“Err, no. You?”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” Naruto blinks. Well now he kinda’ feels stupid. “Anyone I know?”

“No,” Sasuke says. “And it wasn’t like this.”

His tone doesn’t leave room for any questions, and Naruto has a feeling he doesn’t want to know.

“Okay,” Naruto says. He slips off the bed, and Sasuke looks stunned as Naruto slides to his knees and pushes Sasuke’s legs apart. “This part shouldn’t be too hard to figure out, I don’t think.”

“Naruto,” Sasuke exhales, and his name sounds so _good_ like that. Naruto plants his nose in his clothed thigh and breathes in.

“This okay?”

“Dobe. You don’t have to.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Naruto rolls his eyes, and buries head between Sasuke’s legs for a better part of half an hour. Sasuke doesn’t want him to go fast; he taps on his shoulders, lets out a sharp gasp and pushes back Naruto’s head when he goes too deep, but Naruto feels high off the kind of power it gives him. 

Sasuke is firm and hot in his mouth, and seeing him break down little by little is none short of fucking awesome. Naruto rests his hands on Sasuke’s thighs and learns him; he studies the tenseness in his muscles as he gets close, pushes a little too far just so Sasuke will dig into the short strands of his hair and yank.

“Naruto,” Sasuke sighs huskily, and Naruto is off his knees and kissing him like a tripwire.

He didn’t know sex could be like this. He can’t remember all the embarrassing and awkward things he used to dislike about it. Sasuke makes him go a little carnal anyways.

Rolled into the bed they can’t stop _kissing,_ and Naruto can’t remember a single thing outside of this room.

Sasuke worships him when he’s naked. It’s rough, his fingers clenched hard into his thigh, teeth sharp as he bites along his hip, his chest, his shoulder – but it’s full of reverence and adoration, two things that Naruto didn’t think Sasuke was capable of.

It burns him to be at the center of so much of Sasuke’s undivided attention. Naruto talks just to talk, but Sasuke puts an end to that quickly.

Sasuke is kissing the back of his neck when he bottoms out, and Naruto moans like he’s gone fucking stupid. It’s a black and white contrast, the roughness that which Sasuke handles him, versus the gentle way he kisses his hair.

Doesn’t matter either way, Naruto feels like he’s dying. Sasuke waits, and Naruto arches back into him, purring from the overwhelmingly _full_ feeling.

“Okay?”

“Fuck, fuck yes,” Naruto curses.

“Fuck, Naruto,” Sasuke sighs, and plants a hand between Naruto’s shoulders for balance, and it’s _soo_ good, the stretch, the rhythm, all of it. Naruto isn’t close yet, but he likes that. He wants it to last forever, wants to melt in this heavy pace Sasuke has set. His thrusts hold raw strength, and Naruto was born to take it.  
  


His bandaged fingers scratch against the cotton sheets, a single sound among a chorus of others.

Naruto begs, _ah ah harder please –_ and the way Sasuke growls in his ear, _we are going to break your stupid headboard_ makes Naruto laugh, and then keen.

Naruto rolls over because he wants to watch Sasuke’s face when he comes. He wasn’t counting on the angle change to make him go cross-eyed. All Sasuke does is press a palm against his cock, pushing against his stomach in a comforting way, but it makes Naruto arch up and crack like a whip anyways.

He’s oversensitive to the sweat rolling down Sasuke’s chest, their short, breathy gasps, the callouses against his cock and the scarred thighs slotted against his ass— 

It was a multitude of things. He comes white hot and loud, and Sasuke’s heavy gaze makes it worse.

“God, you...” Sasuke starts, wide eyed. 

Naruto’s throat goes sore from yelling, and Sasuke curls in on himself, like it’s all too much at once.

He digs his nails into Sasuke’s back and tugs him as close as he can, and he knows it must hurt, but that’s what does Sasuke in anyways. Naruto _feels it,_ feels him throb and shudder and freeze rigid, sucking in wet gasps next to Naruto’s ear and he doesn’t feel awkward at all. Its actually, the hottest thing he’s ever experienced.

“How the fuck are you still hard,” Sasuke wonders aloud.

“Sorry,” Naruto laughs, petting back his sweaty bangs. “Don’t worry about it.”

Sasuke leans back to glare at him. He must take it as a challenge, because Sasuke grabs the lube, powers through the sensitivity and fucks him a second time, and Naruto stuffs the pillowcase in his mouth so he won’t alert his ANBU, some miles away.

~

Naruto is not surprised to wake up alone. Some naïve part of him had hoped maybe they’d wake up side by side, but he supposes it’s not in Sasuke’s nature.

He’s not really sure what they are anymore. But Sasuke doesn’t come around for a couple days, and Naruto tries to pretend that his heart isn’t breaking, but it still is.

Maybe he said too much. Sasuke _said_ he loved him, but Naruto wonders if he’ll ever be capable of really showing it. Maybe they’re too late for all this romance stuff.

He’s not sore anymore, but Naruto secretly wishes he still was. There’s no proof left, nothing to remind him that the night really happened. Maybe Sasuke got what he came for.

Kurama is unsettled. He’s just as upset as Naruto is, but he won’t to say it. Naruto wants to put on a brave face for him, but not a soul knows him better than Kurama, so it’s not worth trying to lie.

It’s Naruto’s week with the kids, so that’s a good enough distraction. He skips on bar night to make dinner and watch cartoons with them. Boruto is signed up for his first high-ranking mission next week, so Naruto stays up late talking it through with him to help take down the edge.

Naruto is not quite asleep yet when his bedroom window creaks open. Naruto peeps open an eye, and watches a shadow move down his wall.

“Quiet,” Naruto tells him. “The kids are sleeping.”

“I know,” Sasuke says. Naruto lifts up the blanket, and Sasuke discards his shoes and his sword before climbing in.

Naruto doesn’t even have it in him to be mad. He’s tired and it’s late and he’s emotionally sore already.

Sasuke adjusts to seek a comfortable position with his missing arm. He pulls Naruto close to him, and like a fool, Naruto goes.

The breeze blows the curtains, and Naruto closes his eyes with a sigh.

“I’m sorry I left,” Sasuke whispers.

“Which time?”

No response. Naruto focuses on the sound of their breathing, before he says,

“If you’re not serious, you need to go.”

Sasuke freezes.

“Naruto.”

“I can’t do this with you,” Naruto says. “I love you, and if you keep yanking me around you will actually break me.”

Sasuke swallows. His voice is forced.

“That’s a dangerous thing to tell someone, Hokage-sama.”

“Yeah well, it’s the truth.”

A long pause. Naruto can feel fingers tremble between his shoulder blades.

“I’m sorry. Being with you was...a lot. For me.”

“Then tell me that,” Naruto snaps. “I’ll take on everything, all the shit you can’t handle. Put all your emotions on _me,_ and I’ll carry it for you. I don’t give a shit if you leave, so long as I know you’re coming back to me.”

“I won’t leave again,” Sasuke tells him. “I found my peace.”

Naruto hates how much his heart sours. Hates how often he’d lay in bed and dream about those words.

“Then why didn’t you stay?”

Sasuke sits up off his bad shoulder, and Naruto immediately slips an arm under to help him sit up. Sasuke leans over him instead, the hand on his back now pressing down into the pillows. Sasuke’s dark hair falls around him, and it tickles Naruto’s cheeks.

“Because if I _have you_ I won’t let you go,” Sasuke hisses. “I’m not a good person, Naruto. If you wake up one day and decide you hate me, I’ll lock you up and make you bleed until you love me again. I’d kill anyone else that touches you like this. If I saw you kiss another soul I’d rip them limb from limb and scrub their germs from your mouth with my kunai.”

Naruto’s throat runs dry.

Sasuke’s sharingan spins threateningly, and Naruto thinks of the Uchiha curse.

They are burdened to love so intensely, so _completely_ that the loss of it drives them into madness and power. They’re feared for the strength of their obsessions, scoffed at for their clinginess.

Naruto must be wrong in the head, because the mere thought of it turns butterflies in his stomach.

“I need it,” Naruto rasps. “I need you to love me like that.”

“It’s forever,” Sasuke warns.

“Promise?” Naruto grins, and Sasuke kisses his mouth needy and loud; finally, finally opening up and letting go.

Naruto sleepily wraps his arms around Sasuke and holds on tight.

~

Sasuke is awake the very moment he hears small feet touch the floor.

He lays there and waits with bated breath. The footsteps trail down the hall and into the other bedroom.

There is a longer stretch of silence, and Sasuke wonders if Himawari has crawled in bed with Boruto – but the footsteps approach Naruto’s bedroom door.

Sasuke considers cracking the window and hiding outside, but he can’t let Naruto think he’s left again. He pulls his arm away from Naruto’s warm body and lays there in waiting. Himawari cracks the door open and approaches the bed.

“Dad?”

Naruto sits up, and red eyes flash in the dark.

“Naruto is sleeping. What’s wrong?”

Sasuke is silently floored by how unphased Himawari is.

“Ah, um, I think Boruto has a fever. I tried to treat it but um, I – I couldn’t get it to go down very much. I’m sorry.”

Kurama swings his feet over the bed and sets a hand on Himawari’s head.

“That’s alright. I’ll take a look at him.”

Himawari takes his hand and leads Kurama out of the bedroom. Sasuke is definitely _not_ going to miss this opportunity, so he slips along the shadows and hides in the hall as Kurama enters Boruto’s room.

He looks flushed. Kurama settles a hand on Boruto’s forehead and hums.

“A virus. That’s probably why your chakra didn’t help.”

“Oh,” Himawari frowns.

Boruto peeps open an eye and croaks, “Kurama?”

Their familiarity with Kurama is baffling, but Sasuke supposes they don’t know any different. It’s probable that they’re completely unable to envision a world where the nine-tails destroyed villages with a red fury. Now he’s just another parent. Fascinating.

Boruto begins to glow red from the Kyuubi’s chakra. He makes a pained noise, and Kurama hushes him bluntly. The flush starts to ease out of Boruto’s face, and he sighs when the chakra slips away.

“Are you feeling better?” Hima whispers.

“Nnn. Throat hurts.”

“That’s all you can handle for now,” Kurama says, leaning back. “I’ll have Naruto check on you in the morning.”

It’s jarring to hear that deep voice come out of Naruto’s body, but Kurama holds himself completely different, to the point where it isn’t even Naruto anymore. He’s stiffer, but less jerky in his motions, and his eyes glow in the dark. Sasuke has to fight against all the alarms going off in his head.

“M’fine. I’ll sleep it off.”

Boruto tips up his nose like he’s waiting for something. Sasuke squints curiously, and then blinks in surprise as Kurama leans down and bumps their noses together. There’s almost something animal-like about it, but so genuine, it makes Sasuke feel more emotions than he would like.

“Come to me if your fever returns,” Kurama demands. He then turns to Himawari and snaps. “You, bed.”

“Thank you Kurama,” Himawari smiles, and leans up on her toes to tap noses with Kurama as well. “Goodnight!”

“Yeah yeah.”

Sasuke phases back into the bed before he’s seen. It’s likely that Himawari already knows he’s here, but he can’t know for sure.

Kurama comes back into the bedroom. He pauses after he closes the door, and Sasuke holds his breath, unsure of what Kurama’s reaction will be. He might be angry if Sasuke stays, but he could be angrier if Sasuke tries to leave.

Kurama’s eyes are unfocused.

One blink, blue. A second blink, red.

Kurama’s voice is deep and low as he then says, “It’s handled, go back to sleep.”

Sasuke realizes that he’s speaking to Naruto. He lets out a breath as Kurama heaves himself back on the bed, and glares down at Sasuke.

“I don’t want to hear it from you.”

“What?” Sasuke tries for nonchalance.

“If the word _domestic_ comes out of your mouth I will eat your other arm.” 

“The thought didn’t even cross my mind,” Sasuke teases, deadpan. 

Sasuke thought he’d seen everything, but he wasn’t ready for a _tailed beast_ to crawl under his arm and draw a fist in the back of Sasuke’s shirt. Sasuke goes rigid as a board, and Kurama huffs against his neck.

It’s Naruto’s body, but it’s not _Naruto._

This is the soul of the nine-tailed beast. A demon who was feared by the world. And they are _cuddling._

A beat passes, and Kurama snorts.

“You’re freaking out.”

Sasuke forces himself to relax. Naruto’s chakra is still the same. It’s still his scent, his hands, but the gruffness of Kurama’s voice gives him goosebumps.

“Adjusting,” Sasuke corrects, and settles his hand at his lower back. Kurama growls from his throat. Sasuke could take him in a fight, but he would not like to at this moment in time. “I thought you hated me.”

“I do,” Kurama says, and Sasuke will not admit that his heart dropped. “You’re a bastard.”

“Right.”

“I’m the one that’s been here since the beginning,” Kurama snarls. “I’m the one that picked up the pieces over and over again. _I’m_ the one who healed him. I’m the one that cared for him, even when I hated him too.”

The familiar feeling of guilt churns in his stomach, but Sasuke does not show it.

“Of course.”

“But we are not so different,” Kurama continues. “Everything Naruto feels, I can feel also. We are connected, so if you cannot accept me, then you cannot accept him.”

“I accept everything,” Sasuke says. His gaze flickers back to the door, and Kurama does not miss that.

“Everything?” Kurama rumbles.

Sasuke has a silent epiphany. Naruto’s children are just as much of Kurama’s, and it appears that he sees them as such.

“Naruto is _mine,_ ” Sasuke says. “And so is everything else that comes with him.”

Kurama’s eyes narrow into slits, and his hand comes up to squeeze Sasuke’s jaw. Naruto’s body is already beautiful, but seeing it darkened and feral like this is sexy in a different way.

A hot breath pants over him, and Sasuke doesn’t flinch as Kurama leans in close.

“I guess you live,” Kurama says, _almost_ a kiss, and then turns around in Sasuke’s arm, the heat of his skin burning through their clothes. Sasuke does not sleep the rest of the night, but it’s fine.

Any man would be unwise to sleep with a tiger in his arms.

~

Naruto is sorting paperwork with a highlighter in his mouth, when Sasuke looks up from a scroll and decides to ask,

“Is Kurama capable of love?”

Naruto drops the highlighter out of his mouth, and it bounces off the desk and onto the floor.

“Ah,” Naruto blinks. He leans down to pick it up, chewing on the corner of his lip. There are ANBU listening.

Reading his mind, Sasuke sets the seal for a sound barrier. Naruto laughs.

“You’ve got five minutes before they come bursting in here. Do you want to know that badly?”

“I’m intrigued,” Sasuke mumbles. “There’s a variable of danger in it, after all.”

“I guess so,” Naruto rubs his chin. “Taking a loved one hostage, you mean?” People will do worse to control a tailed-beast. 

“Nn.”

“I don’t think he can love like you and I, but his feelings aren’t any less valid,” Naruto says. “Do you want to ask him? He’s asleep right now.”

“No.”

Naruto smiles, and sits at the corner of his desk.

“Are you freaked out from last week?”

Sasuke shakes his head. “Only curious. Was your relationship with Hinata the same as this?”

“Not at all. He didn’t want much to do with her,” Naruto laughs nervously, and rubs the back of his head. “Honestly, I’m surprised he comes out around you.”

“Do Jinchuuriki typically share emotions?”

“I think it depends on the bond…” Naruto shrugs. “Kurama and I are pretty different. I think the closest would be Eight-o and Killer B. I can ask Kurama to tone it down if it bothers you.”

“It doesn’t,” Sasuke says, and that’s the end of it.

~

Naruto is learning what love is really supposed to be like, and it’s kind of awesome. He didn’t think he’d get a second chance, but maybe he’s not that old after all.

He didn’t know that small things, like passing coffee cups and brushing knees under the kitchen table, would make him feel like a lovesick teenager, but it does. Every kiss makes his body tingle, even the small ones.

Hinata still waves at him when he sees her. Naruto is thankful, and he hopes one day someone will feel like _this_ for her, because she deserves it.

Sasuke is capable of subtlety, but Naruto is not, so it’s not long before the rumors start to spread.

“I’m happy for you,” Hinata says, and Naruto kind of believes it.

He tries to breech the topic with his kids, but Boruto tells him, _“Ew gross stop, we know,”_ and Himawari gives him a smile, and they’re pretty okay, as far as teenagers go.

“You’re not mad, are you?” Naruto asks, once Himawari has gone to bed. He’s fiddling around in the kitchen to look busy, pulling open drawers and shutting them again.

Boruto is silent for a long time. He sets down his video game and folds his arms, and he looks too mature in that moment.

“Nah. It’s kinda’ weird, but Sasuke-sensei is cool as fuck, so I’d say he’s the only guy good enough to date you.”

Naruto blinks hard.

“That was really sweet, but Hima will be an only child if you curse like that in front of me again.”

“Right, sorry.”

~

When shit hits the fan, it goes all at once.

He sends Sasuke to head an ANBU mission, and knows he doesn’t have to worry if he’ll come home or not, but he still sorta’ does.

Naruto works a full week of 20 hour days until everything settles, and Sasuke is bandaging his arm with his teeth when Naruto comes home around eight in the morning on Saturday. 

“Success?”

“Would I be here if it wasn’t?”

Fair. Sasuke will tell him what he needs to know later. Naruto approaches where he’s perched on the kitchen counter, and takes his arm.

“Let me see.”

“It’s not lethal.”

“Yeah, but it’s deep. You’re bleeding like a stuck pig – all over my _kitchen counter,_ I eat food here, asshole.”

“Quit bitching, all you eat is cup ramen on your couch.”

“I’m gonna’ punch you.”

“Try it, dick.”

The casualness of their bickering makes them both smile.

Their transition from friends(?) to lovers has been a strange one. Some things are different, others are completely the same. 

Sasuke lets Naruto rip off the rest of his shirt and pat through the blood on his arm. Naruto closes his eyes briefly, and offers up Kurama’s chakra to heal the wound. Sasuke doesn’t complain because Naruto isn’t in the mood to argue.

“You look tired,” Sasuke observes.

“Been busy.”

“And you smell awful.”

“Yeah, you don’t exactly smell like roses either, buddy.”

Sasuke grabs the back of his head and pulls Naruto up to kiss him. Pleasantly surprised, Naruto hums as he kisses back, the stress melting out of him knowing that Sasuke is home in Konoha again.

He might never adjust to having Sasuke so accessible, but maybe that’s a good thing, if every kiss feels as special as this one.

Naruto breaks the kiss with a peck and says, “We should shower.”

Sasuke nods. Naruto watches him observe the wound on his arm, but there’s nothing there, not even a scar.

Naruto gets the shower started while Sasuke starts peeling off clothes. He makes a disgusted face when the clothes stick to him, and it’s so endearingly _human_ that Naruto laughs. Sasuke sneers, but Naruto is way too tired to feel threatened.

When the water is warm enough, Naruto tugs his shirt off by the collar and kicks off his sandals.

Sasuke grabs his hand. Naruto jolts back when he picks at the bandages, and Sasuke lets go in surprise.

“Sorry,” Naruto blurts.

Sasuke is considerably less intimidating when he’s naked. He’s actually super hot, so it’s funny to see him look so concerned.

“You shower with these on?”

“Err- no. It’s just… I don’t like other people seeing the arm. It’s kinda’ weird.”

“Really,” Sasuke deadpans. “You think _this_ is what makes you weird?”

“Shut up! Whatever, it’s fine. Take it off.”

Naruto offers up his hand, and Sasuke gives him a look before he starts on the bandages again. He’s tedious in it, unwrapping strand by strand. Naruto usually cuts it off with a kunai and lets Kurama deal with the blood, but he supposes Sasuke would scold him for doing so.

Steam starts to build in the bathroom.

Sasuke’s eyes widen only a fraction when he unwraps up to Naruto’s wrist.

It goes faster now. Naruto clenches his fingers a little, and the sensation feels weird without the bandage.

“Can you feel this?” Sasuke asks.

“Yeah, but it’s dulled through the prothesis, that’s why I don’t mind wrapping it.”

Sasuke hums. Naruto stares at the stark white of his false arm. It’s so white it’s nearly transparent. There are blue lines beneath the skin, almost alien-like as they run up his fingers. Chakra circles are marked around the knuckles, and there are different markings by his elbow. It’s almost reminiscent of Kurama’s black lines in chakra mode, but there’s something about these blue ones that still feel wrong to look at it.

“From the way you were acting, I thought you’d have a tentacle for an arm,” Sasuke says.

Naruto rolls his eyes, and smiles.

“Would you still love me with my tentacle arm?”

“Definitely not.”

Naruto scoffs, but softens as Sasuke leans down to kiss the oval scar where his flesh meets the prosthetic.

“Aww,” Naruto teases. Sasuke forces him into the shower, and Naruto’s laugh echoes louder from the tile.

Blood washes down the drain. Soap and shampoo, dirt and grime, Sasuke sinks to his knees and Naruto’s breathy cries ping pong off the bathroom walls.

Sasuke doesn’t let him rewrap his hand after the shower. He falls asleep with Naruto’s prosthetic fingers against his lips, and Naruto wants to cry and say _I love you_ a million times, no matter how stupid he sounds.

~

“Wow,” Kiba says, head lifting off the bar. “I’m not sure If I’m supposed to be really surprised, or really _not_ surprised.”

“How about really _quiet,_ ” Sasuke offers, taking a barstool next to Naruto, and their friends laugh so damn hard that they don’t have to buy a single drink the rest of the evening.

It’s later that Sakura looks between them, and sighs good naturedly, patting Ino on the shoulder. “Of all the fights we used to have…who would’ve guessed Sasuke would choose _Naruto._ ”

“Hey!”

“I feel like I lost, somehow,” Ino nods, and Sai gives her a very offended look. She huffs, “Oh quit it, you know I love you.”

“Out of all the fish in the sea, you caught the uncatchable,” Lee laughs. “Kudos to you, my friend.”

“It’s not so remarkable when the fisherman keeps chasing after the fish with a harpoon,” Sasuke deadpans, and Naruto can’t even be mad, because it gets them another round of free drinks.

“He’s a pretty hot fish,” Naruto agrees, taking his shot.

Shikamaru cringes, “Okay, that’s ew.”

“How’s the new baby?” Sasuke asks with absolutely zero interest a real answer. Shikamaru glares so hard, Naruto thinks he might really burst into flames.

“Okay nevermind,” Sai says to Sasuke. “I do like you.”

~

Through trial and error, they're still learning about each other. 

There are things that are the same, but there are things that are different, too. 

Naruto thought the fights would be worse. But they are not children and they are not so irrational either — and most bickering escalates into flirting anyways. Maybe that's what it's always been. 

Sasuke doesn't like to be touched after a nightmare.

It's torture to lay there in waiting, as Sasuke pants out the memories and does laps around the bedroom. The sink will run, the window will slide open and stay there, Sasuke on the precipice of running away again — but if Naruto is patient enough, the sheets rustle and Sasuke will return to his arms. 

Sometimes, it's not blue eyes that hold him. Sasuke knows this, and speaks nothing of it. 

~

Sasuke's cat-like tendencies are annoying. He's always on the furniture and his sword leaves scratches in the floor and he's _picky_ about affection; it's either all or nothing, Sasuke must have your complete and undivided attention, or he doesn't want to be touched at all. 

"Stop getting blood in the kitchen sink," Naruto huffs. "You can wash your weapons off in the tub if you have to." 

There's the sound of a clone popping, and Naruto blinks as the memories rush past his eyes. He doesn't even have the time to turn around before Sasuke is pushing him up against the sink. 

"What does it matter," Sasuke purrs in his ear. "I do all the cooking anyways." 

"You killed my fucking clone," Naruto breathes. "Now you're doing the laundry too." Naruto breaks out in goosebumps as Sasuke mouths against the back of his neck. "Damn, we're domestic." 

Sasuke's hand comes up the front of his throat. Naruto's stomach flips as he fingers into the chain around his neck. 

"What is this?" 

Naruto keeps his face flat, and avoids his reflection in the sink. 

"Ah, well..." 

Sasuke's grip tightens, and the metal begins to dig into his skin. 

"Where did you get it?" 

"A village leader gave it to me over negotiations for Konoha's protection." 

Sasuke snaps the chain. Naruto cracks, and smiles. 

"Oops," Sasuke says with no remorse. "Sorry. I'll get you a new one." 

Naruto knows he should feel angry — it was a very nice pendant — but the possessiveness in the rumble of Sasuke's voice makes some very fucked up, very repressed parts of him sing. Kurama doesn't like Sasuke wearing other peoples' things either, but that might be a little bit of Naruto, too. 

Sasuke builds him a new collar with his teeth. He sends him to work with a necklace of bruises like they're teens, and while Kurama's chakra heals them by noon, Naruto still knows the marks are there. 

~

"The elders say your relationship with Sasuke is unwise," Shikamaru says. 

"Can you tell the elders I don't give a shit?" 

"Now that's my boy," Kakashi grins. Naruto bumps his fist over the table, and Sasuke looks like he'd rather die than be a part of this conversation. 

"You're a terrible influence," Sakura says, and at that moment an ANBU decides to pull out a kunai and lodge it in Naruto's chest. 

Sasuke has already slit the ANBU's throat before he can remove the weapon. Kurama heals the wound, Sasuke drops the ANBU's limp body, and nothing more is said on Sasuke's loyalty. 

Naruto tosses the kunai to the floor and grins.

“Right, what was I saying?”

~

Boruto catches the shuriken on his way out the door.

“You forgot this,” Sasuke says, hip against the counter.

Boruto scoffs, and throws it back. “I don’t need it! I have my katana.”

Sasuke throws it once more, and Boruto knows better than to let it stick into the wall, so he catches it again.

“Take it. You never know if your sword will be disarmed during battle.”

Boruto rolls his eyes, “What next, are you going to check that I’m wearing a _hat?”_

“Don’t forget your coat!” Naruto calls cheerily.

“Aren’t you late?”

“ _Shit._ I mean – _crap_ _.”_

Himawari dumps Boruto’s jacket on his head as she passes through the doorway.

“Okay, we’re off!”

Boruto doesn’t look excited about bringing his sister on a mission, but she’s become a valuable medi-nin, and he knows better than to doubt her skills in front of their father(s).

Boruto slips on the sleeve and nods, “We’ll be back in three days.”

Naruto feels a familiar tap on his shoulder, and allows Kurama to switch control. His voice drops several octaves.

“Don’t let that four-tailed bastard boss you around. His new jinchuuriki is a pushover.”

“Ha, sounds like a challenge,” Boruto grins.

“Don’t die,” Sasuke tells them, and they wave it off ritually.

“Bye Kurama! Bye Dad! Bye Dad Sensei!”

Naruto blinks back control and waves, stuffing toast in his mouth as he toes on his shoes. He swallows as the door shuts, and when Sasuke turns to glare at him, Naruto starts cackling.

“I told them not to call me that.”

Naruto slides up to him at the counter and sets a hand on Sasuke’s boney hip. He grins, “Why not? It’s hilarious.”

“You should be flattered,” Kurama says, red eyes squinting mischievously, and Sasuke grabs him by the chin.

“Go away, I’m kissing Naruto right now.”

“You are?”

“Yes, and you’re not funny.”

Naruto laughs when they switch again; his voice so much more bubbly and light. The look on Sasuke’s face is well worth it, and Naruto is reluctant to close his eyes as Sasuke dips down to kiss him.

Sasuke’s lip is split from an altercation with a missing-nin yesterday. It was a failed assignation on Naruto’s life, but Sasuke was feeling no mercy that day. Naruto didn’t heal the split because it was the only mark that rogue-nin made, and it’s hot to think about.

Naruto licks across his lip and happily sighs as Sasuke meets his tongue. He tastes tangy, like orange juice. Naruto really wishes he had the time to bend Sasuke over this counter and screw him stupid.

“Love you,” Naruto smiles. Sasuke’s eyes soften, and his single hand rises to pet his knuckles down the scars on Naruto’s cheek. 

“Love you too.” He smoothes his fingers across Naruto’s eyebrow. “They will be fine.”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” 

“Shut up,” Sasuke huffs. “If my mission goes well, I’ll return the same day as them.”

“Mah, empty nest,” Naruto sighs. “It’ll be so lonely.” 

“Are you sure you want to send _me?”_

“I don’t trust anyone else more,” Naruto grins. He taps Sasuke’s butt, “Besides, I know you’ll come back to me. Next week is my thirty-fourth birthday, after all.” 

If Naruto hadn’t been looking, he would’ve missed the brief shine in Sasuke’s eyes. It’s not enough to build tears, but Sasuke leans down to kiss the corner of Naruto’s eye very gently.

“Moron.”

“Mmm. Jerk.”

  
  


“You’re still late, you know.”

“SHIT.”

**Author's Note:**

> i threw this together real quick just cause i couldnt stop thinking about them. seeing their relationship more matured made 11 year old me so happy hahaha. 
> 
> this is the year for getting back into old fandoms 


End file.
